


Gee Ladybug how come your parents let you have TWO Soulmates

by buzzbuzzbinch



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Knows, Balcony Scene, Chloè redemption, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Marinette Dupain-Cheng-centric, Multi, OT3, Polyamory, Post-Reveal Love Square, Social Media, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, chat fic, lol sorry theres like two love squares i have to tag now, marinette has two soulmates, partially, queen bee is queer as fuck, slow burn i guess, whole lotta memes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-06-29 06:30:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15723867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buzzbuzzbinch/pseuds/buzzbuzzbinch
Summary: “Is there any chance she’s our soulmate?” Chloe asked.“My kwami told me we’re linked by destiny, that seems like soulmate-material to me.”----------------------------------------------------------------------An AU where those that have soulmates can communicate with them through writing on their skin, and Marinette's always had two sets of writing appearing on her.





	1. Ya Like Jazz?

**Author's Note:**

> the first chapter is mostly set up for the rest of the fic, and updates will probably be a bit more spaced out since I'm trying to write long chapters

Two sets of writing were talking to each other on scribbles on her arms while Marinette sat in class, a hand propped on her chin and words scrawling out around the wrist from the cuff of her pink jacket. Alya was talking to her but she barely noticed, the rest of the class buzzing as she took out a pen and wrote on the palm of her hand. “ _ How do you two know each other anyways?” _

 

The answering words in green appeared on her other palm. “ _ We’ve been friends since we were kids. How’d you guess?”  _

 

Wiping away her remaining words on her palm, Marinette wrote back. “ _ You guys are always talking about things already going on in your lives. It probably helps that you call each other by your first initial. _ ” She heard a huff of laughter from the desk behind her, and she was about to turn to say good morning to Adrien and Nino when Alya physically took hold of her shoulder.

 

“Girl you have to stop spacing out. I get you were talking to your soulmate but we have a test Monday and you haven’t taken a page of notes,” Alya whispered, the side of her mouth quirking up. A flash of guilt shook her out of her daze- she still hadn’t told her best friend that she had two soulmates. It wasn’t exactly a common occurrence. 

 

“Right, sorry,” Marinette responded bashfully, rubbing at her neck as she put her pen instead to her notebook to take notes over biology. In her periphery, she saw the brightness of yellow writing on the inside of her wrist but she forcefully ignored it. She couldn’t keep getting distracted or she would definitely fail this test.

 

“ _ Do you go to Collège Françoise Dupont too?”  _ The writing was stilted and uncertain.

 

Adrien Agreste and Chloe Bourgeois both watched for a response the entire period until the yellow writing was wiped away, leaving behind only slight smudges of sunshine.

  
  


Ever since Marinette could remember, she’d had more than one set of scrawled writing appearing on her skin, the mark of her soulmates. Besides the set of green writing that showed up almost constantly, first thing in the morning and the last thing at night, she also had yellow words that showed up erratically on her skin too.

 

Long before she had realized the significance of having two different soulmates, she wondered what color her words showed up as. She’d been up late at night and asked them, with her question blooming in curling script across her left forearm.

 

Red.

 

That color only meant anything to her after she met Master Fu, after he had given her the Miraculous and she met Tikki.

 

“My mom’s gone.” The words had appeared stark neon green against her skin when she was still in primary school. The words were written so hastily, in complete disbelief and denial, that they ran together like a stream of tears.

 

“Mine too,” the yellow script had responded- if someone could have handwriting that looked detached, that’s what it looked like.

 

The day his mom died was the day Marinette finally worked up the courage to write to her soulmates. “I’m so sorry. How can I help?” she had written on her forearm. 

 

The person in yellow exploded in writing across her right arm, thoughts coherent with just repeated question marks and exclamation points. They both hadn’t known they had a second soulmate until now.

 

The person in green had just responded with a  _ no, you can’t help _ , but had continued talking with her and the person in yellow.

 

The person in green- who she had learned he also lived in Paris- had since gradually opened up to her, but he always seemed to be much more open to the girl who wrote in yellow.

  
  


“Alya, do you have notes from the rest of this week?” Marinette asked her, smiling wide and batting her eyelashes at her friend. 

 

She rolled her eyes and grinned. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll text you all the notes from this unit,” she responded, ruffling Marinette’s hair.

 

“Hey Mari, I heard you’re having trouble with the unit,” Adrien said as he joined them; she couldn’t help but inwardly melt at the nickname. “I can tutor you if you want?” Alya elbowed her stomach, and raised what she probably thought was an inconspicuous eyebrow.

 

“O-oh yeah, that’d be great! If you’re not too busy, of course!” Marinette answered, looping her fingers around her other arm.

 

“See you Saturday?” Adrien replied with a warm smile. Marinette just nodded, trying not to look too eager. 

 

“Girl you’ve got it so bad for that boy,” Alya teased in a murmur after Adrien had walked away with Nino. Marinette’s face burst into shades of red and she hit Alya’s shoulder. “So… any clue if he’s your soulmate or not?”

 

She only managed to get more flustered. “I have no idea- I mean that’d be super cool but what are the chances that my soulmate goes to the same school as us and that they are in the same grade and that I’ve already met and that I just happen to have a crush on?”  _ And be one of my  _ two  _ soulmates?  _

 

Alya just snorted out a laugh and shook her head at her. “I guess that’s fair. Well a crush never hurt anyone.” 

 

Lord, she hoped so. 

  
  


The Akuma alert blared on everybody’s phones in unison, clear sets of instructions in case of emergency flashing across the screens. Ladybug and Chat Noir had worked together with the police only a few weeks ago to establish the new emergency alert. At first, it had just resulted in more confusion until the head of the police backed up for his mistake and made an official report about it.

 

After that, there’d been a lot less injuries during akuma attacks, much to the relief of everyone in the city.

 

The warnings flashed consistently.  _ Seek refuge in any available basement or shelter if possible. Another alarm will sound once the akuma has been taken care of by Ladybug and Chat Noir. _

 

“Alya, I gotta go make sure my parents will be okay with all the customers. Good luck with the Ladyblog but please don’t go rushing into the middle of things again please?” Marinette yelled over her shoulder as she darted out the school doors. 

 

“No promises!” She yelled back, giving her a thumbs up anyways. Marinette sprinted into the nearest conspicuous alley, her transformation sending sparks of light to the alley entrance. 

 

Ladybug pulled out her communicator, bringing up the map with the flashing akuma symbol at least a few miles out. A symbol of a black cat on the map was the same distance away. They’d just have to hurry.

 

Wind whipped across her face as she swung past building past building. She could already see the faint outline of an akuma hovering above a distinct bakery and her heart plummeted in her chest. 

 

“What’s the furrlony, LB,” came the voice to her left, Chat soaring through the streets by her side.

 

“Can’t tell yet, but the cause seems to have happened at the Boulangerie Patisserie recently,” she replied, eyes narrowing in as she focused on the floating figure. “Also, not your best pun Kitty, step it up.”

 

She could see a responding smirk in her periphery, but it was offset by his eyebrows furrowing in concern. Right, he’d talked to her as Marinette multiple times. It made sense that he’d be worried for someone he’s met who also happens to live at the bakery under attack.

 

As they approached the akuma, a booming voice called out to them, “Denizens of Paris. It has been brought to my attention that there resides among you those who believe they’re better than I,” the akuma covered in deadly sharp feathers and writhing silk crooned, fluffing his hair pompously. Ladybug grimaced to herself, swinging into view of the akuma. “I am Impersonator, and I will confiscate your Miraculous, Ladybug and Chat Noir.” She glanced at Chat in warning; she had no idea what power Hawkmoth could’ve gifted this one. 

 

They learned what it was fairly quickly.

 

Impersonator turned everyone he pointed his golden scepter at into mindless zombies that seemed to only be drawn to hurting themselves in whatever way possible. Ladybug cursed under her breath as she flung her yo-yo at a group of civilians who were trying to jump off a bridge as a group, and secured them to a telephone pole. Chat was preoccupied with preventing another group that was going at each others’ throats. Left and right, people were forced against their will to hurl themselves towards the quickest death.

 

“Chat, we won’t be able to even get close to Impersonator at this rate!” she yelled at him while knocking someone unconscious to prevent them from trying to dive off the bridge too. The akuma hadn’t stopped turning people into zombies from the moment he announced himself to them.

 

“Any ideas?” he yelled back, pivoting sharply to knock out a few more people with his staff.

 

“Yeah, I’m going to get Rena Rouge,” Ladybug answered. “Cover me?” Chat nodded quickly, already starting to flag from exhaustion with the sheer amount of people already influenced by the akuma. She had to hurry or he would go down.

 

She swung away, managing to hide her dive into the open trapdoor of her room to swipe the fox Miraculous. Master Fu had entrusted her to keep the Miraculous with her- especially since the number and power of the akumas recently had grown substantially. Before she went to go find Alya, who was already likely near the bakery with a camera at the ready- she jumped down the stairs into the bakery.

 

Her heart caught in her throat. Her parents were both holding a bread knife, steadily raising it to their throats. Ladybug tightened her hand around her yo-yo; she couldn’t afford to miss. She had no idea if Lucky Charm could reverse a fatal wound and she never wanted to know if it could. She forced her arm not to shake as she threw her yo-yo in a tight arc, flinging the knives out of their hands. With another perfectly aimed throw, she knocked them both out. She scoured the kitchen for rope to tie them up for extra measure before she made her way back outside through the roof.

 

Her hands wouldn’t stop shaking; why would Hawkmoth take it this far, threatening everyone’s lives in Paris instead of just controlling them? Was he getting desperate enough to actively attempt to take lives just to get their Miraculous? 

 

She’d have to talk to Chat about this later. She couldn’t afford to get distracted this time.

 

As she swung through the streets again, gaze darting rapidly between person to person running in fear, she suddenly dropped down onto the ground where a sole person was fighting the crowd to run  _ towards _ the ongoing disaster. 

 

She didn’t have time to talk- Chat couldn’t hold out forever- so she swung down, wrapping an arm around Alya and landing on the roof of a building. 

 

“Hey, hold on for a second!” Alya protested.

 

Ladybug just urgently thrusted out the hand clutching the fox Miraculous. “We need you, Rena Rouge.” Normally, Alya’s eyes would brighten at that, at knowing she would be reunited with Trixx and help them save the city again. She just nodded, immediately transforming into the fox heroine. Ladybug looped her arm around Rena’s waist again and practically flew back across the city to the bakery, forcing her shoulders to loosen so she’d be able to fight. 

 

“How many copies of yourself can you make at a time?” Ladybug asked her, already flinging herself back into helping Chat ward off the zombies from hurting themselves. Rena automatically started doing the same.

 

“Last time I did fifty, but I can totally do more,” Rena answered, restrained pride swimming in her eyes, using her flute to fight. 

 

“I need you to make as many as possible to contain civilians and prevent them from hurting themselves as we fight Impersonator,” Ladybug said. There were already hundreds of mindless zombies; fifty copies would barely do anything.

 

“You got it, LB,” Rena responded, blowing into her flute and copies of her sprouted forth. 

 

“Chat, we have to stop him from influencing anyone else,” Ladybug yelled out. 

 

“Got it, Bugaboo.” They sprung into the air and landed on the roof of the bakery, Impersonator flying on wings of steel preoccupied in aiming his scepter at retreating civilians. They launched their weapons at him, and he staggered in the air, his wings overworking to keep him in the air.

 

“The akuma’s got to be in his scepter. We need to take it out as soon as possible.” Her eyes cut to Chat’s. “I checked on the owners of the bakery and secured them. Marinette Dupain-Cheng isn’t there, so she’s probably still safe at school.”

 

Chat’s shoulders loosened almost imperceptibly at the information, and just nodded his affirmation. Neither of them could see the frantic yellow writing that was quickly  _ covering _ their arms and hands through their costumes. 

 

The two threw themselves into battle as Rena managed to corral and subdue most of the civilians affected by the akuma, but it still wasn’t enough. Two Lucky Charms, one Cataclysm, and two Mirages later and it was taking a heavy toll.

 

Three Miraculous users weren’t enough for this anymore.

  
  


“Chat?” she asked through pants, slumped against the side of a building with him to catch their breath. “You know where Master Fu lives, right?”

 

He nodded sharply, his sides heaving through cuts in his suit. “Pawsitive. Why?” Swirling patterns of dried and new blood decorated them both. She could see desperation sinking into his eyes too.

 

Ladybug didn’t even have the energy to roll her eyes at the pun; at least he had enough energy still to be telling puns. “I need you to go to him and tell him we need more help. He should understand and lend you another Miraculous to bestow upon someone,” she explained, her words running ragged. “Can you do that?”

 

Chat’s eyes darted to hers. “Of course. Any idea on who?”

 

“I trust that you’ll make a good decision,” she responded, mustering up a grin for his benefit. He did the same, muffling a groan as he bowed to her teasingly and took off, launching himself away from the battle with his staff. The red splotches splattered on his suit were too visible even from a distance.

 

Ladybug ducked back into the bakery, relieved to see her parents still passed out against each other. Grabbing some fabric from her room, she wrapped a tourniquet around her thigh that was steadily bleeding. She would normally take her chances without tending to her wounds, but she couldn’t afford to get weaker from blood loss. 

 

Rena’s miraculous was blinking out after having used her power, but she was still holding strong against the masses of people that had accumulated. Her Mirage clones were spread thin. 

 

“Go in and recharge, I’ll take over down here until you get back,” Ladybug told Rena, already smoothly sliding into motion again.

 

“Got it, Bug,” she said, running into the bakery. This was the only time she could imagine she’d be grateful that the bakery was the center of the battle. They at least had a steady supply of food for their kwamis; Chat had told her as Marinette that Plagg liked cheese but partial to camembert so she’d since kept it stocked in the bakery even though it reeked.

 

As soon as Rena Rouge returned with a fresh transformation, Ladybug flung herself back at Impersonator, dodging steel feathers and writhing snakes of fabric, a couple feathers managing to nick her thigh. She hadn’t even managed to get close to him yet. His wings automatically grew back the feathers and he seemed to have an endless supply of fabric. Chat needed to get back soon; she definitely couldn’t do this without him.

 

Throwing out her yo-yo at Impersonator’s ankle, it tightened and she  _ yanked  _ him out of the sky, twisting to avoid the onslaught of feathers. She hissed as a couple sliced through her sides, another nicking her cheek. She managed to get a single punch to hit before he pried off the yo-yo string and lifted back into the air. It barely seemed to have fazed him as he went right back to aiming his scepter at anything that moved, shouting out proclamations of superiority.

 

Her body lagged against her will as she used Lucky Charm again, spotted wing clippers falling into her hands. There’s no way she could get close enough without getting severely injured and have enough time to clip the akuma’s wings. There wasn’t anything near that could help her with it either.

 

“Wonder what that could be used for,” a sarcastic voice trilled behind her. Ladybug spun around, eyes locking with the new hero by Chat’s side. So Master Fu had entrusted him with the bee Miraculous.

 

“What’s your name?” she asked her, eyes scanning her. 

 

“Queen Bee,” she answered without hesitation with her hands on her hips. She held herself with confidence, clad in a black and yellow striped suit and mask, a pair of wings flitting anxiously behind her giving away her uncertainty. Black stripes overlaying yellow stretched around her abdomen, another set of stripes circling her thighs, black spirals intertwining with her blond hair. She managed to pull off the entire look, the yellow suiting her frame.

 

Ladybug nodded, redirecting her attention to Chat. “Do we know what her ability is?” she asked, pulling them both out of the way of another handful of feathers.

 

“Master Fu told me besides her wings, she can heal and boost us when she uses her Miraculous,” Chat answered. 

 

“We can work on general combat later, right now we all need healing. Can you do that, Bee?” she asked, gaze cutting down to check on Rena Rouge. She sighed in relief; Alya was still going strong. 

 

“Of course I can,” Queen Bee answered, lifting her chin slightly. It didn’t hide the blush on her cheeks or the smile tugging at her mouth. 

 

“Good,” Ladybug said, more to herself than anything. “We can do this then. Did your kwami tell you how to activate your ability?”

 

Queen Bee nodded. “Pollen told me the basics,” she answered and took a breath. “Time to test it.”  With another shaky breath, she called out what summoned her main ability. A swarm of bees spontaneously combusted out of Queen Bee’s trompo, immediately buzzing to each of the Miraculous heroes and patching their wounds magically, leaving pollen lingering on their skin that energized and boosted their Miraculous.

 

Ladybug let out a relieved breath, refocusing on Bee again. “You can go detransform and recharge your kwami in the bakery downstairs.” She had no idea what kind of food Pollen would prefer, hopefully just honey- in that case, they had plenty of pastries containing honey. “Then go help out Rena Rouge with taking care of the civilians under Impersonator’s control.”

 

“Got it, Ladybug. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you,” Queen Bee responded with a wink before flitting down to help Rena. 

 

Chat bristled as he looked briefly down at Rena Rouge swirling and attacking with her flute, his leather tail sticking straight up. Looking at him, Ladybug snorted in amusement and rolled her eyes fondly. “Calm down, Kitty. We still got a fight to win,” she said, tugging his tail to break him out of his rigid posture. “We can do this.”

 

Chat huffed to himself but still allowed a smile as he asked,“So what’s the plan, my lady?” He twirled his staff with renewed energy, practically bouncing on the pads of his feet. Thank God Master Fu had chosen the Bee Miraculous, otherwise they’d be running on fumes now. 

 

Ladybug saw Queen Bee dart inside the bakery, leaving Rena on her own. “I’ve got a plan, but we’ll have to do it quick, because we’ll need everyone to take the Impersonator down. We can’t afford any casualties,” she responded, trailing off as the dots connected to form a strengthening plan in the back of her mind. “Let’s regroup and then I’ll tell everyone my idea.”

 

“After you then,” Chat replied, bowing dramatically again and following her as she jumped down to where Queen Bee and Rena Rouge were holding out strong, the number of people controlled by Impersonator dwindling down to the double digits.

 

“Rena, how many clones can you spare?” Ladybug said, whirling into motion as a man behind her with a baseball bat tried to bash his own head in, whipping the bat out of his hand and knocking him out swiftly with a well-placed hit to his head with the handle.

 

“Not a lot, sorry LB. Why?” she responded, a group of her clones corralling several people attempting to jump off the bridge.

 

As soon as she made sure the rest were within ears reach, Ladybug told them her plan. It was risky, and if it worked it’d be over in minutes. If it didn’t, there was a chance someone would have the opportunity to hurt themself. The plan would have to be executed flawlessly.

 

Leaving behind a few clones to control the area, they swung into action, Queen Bee leading the charge. Their plan hinged on distracting Impersonator enough so he wouldn’t be able to affect any other civilians.

 

Flitting close on sheer wings- there way no way Queen Bee should be able to fly with wings that size- she dashed in close to Impersonator, avoiding his razor sharp feathers with ease. Her form twisted in air as she gracefully dodged feather after feather. Queen Bee distracted the akuma, attacking with her trompo while Ladybug flung her yo-yo at the base of his wings, wrenching them together and forcing him to fall to the roof of the bakery. His feathers shot out uselessly, only managing to fling down at the roof as he writhed against the string effectively making his wings useless.

 

“Now, Rena!” Ladybug shouted, struggling to keep the yo-yo in place, each thrash of the akuma’s wings tugging her closer to him. Rena sprinted across the roof, blowing a short harmony into her flute to summon more clones of herself. She and her clones circled Impersonator, dodging blasts from his scepter, drawing his attacks. “Chat!”

 

He catapulted himself over Impersonator’s head with his staff while Rena darted around him. Chat deftly snagged the scepter out of the akuma’s hand, immediately using Cataclysm to dissolve it into a cloud of black dust. The smoky butterfly flitted out of the carnage, and Ladybug swung it into her yo-yo before it could do any more harm, releasing it when it was purified. 

 

They all but collapsed as they sunk to sit on the roof, the man who was akumatized blinking blearily in confusion and finding a way off the roof in a daze. 

 

“That...was a shitstorm,” Queen Bee finally said, surprising the rest of them into laughing in relief. 

 

“You weren’t even here for the half of it,” Rena retorted teasingly, sinking lower with a sigh. 

 

“Before we all detransform,” Ladybug started to say, her earrings blinking the first alarm of her time limit until she had to get out of there. “Rena, Bee, I think you two should hold onto your Miraculous for now.” Chat looked over at her in shock; she felt like shit that she didn’t have time to talk it over with him before she announced it, but there just wasn’t any time.

 

Rena looked just as shocked and opened her mouth to say something, probably to burst out in thanks, but Ladybug kept talking. Now wasn’t the time for celebration, it was a time for preparation. “Clearly Hawkmoth is doing all he can to get our Miraculous, and if keeps it up, Chat and I won’t be enough to deal with these akumas anymore,” she continued, glancing at Chat. His own eyes softened when he saw the worry in hers. “It’ll be much more efficient to let you two hold onto your Miraculous for the time being.” She took another steadying breath, phantom aches twinging all over her body. “Queen Bee and Rena Rouge, do you accept this responsibility and promise to keep your identities secret, for the wellbeing of you and your loved ones?”

 

Rena nodded solemnly, her sharp eyes glinting with pride. “I promise,” she answered, infusing the two words with overwhelming happiness and trust. “I won’t let you down, LB.”

 

The beginnings of a smile spread across her face as she turned to face Queen Bee, the other new hero sitting up straight at the full weight of Ladybug’s gaze. “Queen Bee, I understand you’re new to this and might be uncertain-”

 

“I promise. Now can we get out of here already?” Queen abruptly said, what was revealed of her face under her mask turning red at the answering grins of the other three.

 

Ladybug nodded with a smile, the secondary warning on her earrings beeping in alarm as she pushed herself into a standing position. “You all can go get some rest, I’ll do the patrol on my own tonight. We can figure out patrol schedules for all of us later.”

 

Chat looked at her, eyes slanting disapprovingly at her. “You need rest too, Bug,” he chastised. She could almost see his cat ears flattening against his head.

 

“Don’t worry about it, I got it,” she replied, leaving no room to argue. “Alright, everyone go home.”

 

After the others had all left the rooftop, Ladybug groaned as the final warning sounded and her transformation dissipated. She lifted up the corner of her shirt, faded ugly bruises splotching the side of her torso and healing pink scars slashed across her body. It seems even Queen Bee’s healing ability couldn’t heal everything. She’d just have to suck it up and do the patrol in only a couple hours- she could rest tomorrow.

 

She was going to be so sore tomorrow.

  
  


After making sure Tikki was fed and ready for another transformation, Ladybug found herself scaling the Eiffel Tower, stitches in her side making themselves known as she slumped against a beam. The city sparkled beneath her, no explosions or bursts of smoke announcing another akuma. Hopefully Hawkmoth needed a break too and would give them a couple days break before unleashing another akuma.

 

Ladybug let out a breath as she sat on a beam, her legs swinging slightly beneath her in the wind as she scanned the city. Normally she would  _ patrol _ around the city, but she just didn’t have the energy for it. At least from here she would be able to tell if an akuma appeared. They usually had flashy introductions.

 

She sighed through her nose, eyes fixed on the skyline. “Chat, you’re supposed to be resting.”

 

“Heads up, Queen might be coming too,” he responded, throwing a smirk in her direction as he sat next to her, folding his staff back up and resting it on his hip.

 

“Might be?”

 

“Where the hell are you two?” Queen’s voice came in through Chat’s communicator, an annoyed edge creeping into her voice. 

 

Chat turned away from Ladybug, hiding his communicator as if he could pretend she couldn’t clearly hear Queen Bee. “Eiffel Tower, buzz up here.” His communicator turned off with a click and Chat turned back to Ladybug with a grin that she knew meant  _ you didn’t just hear that _ . She rolled her eyes, a smile forming on her face anyways.

 

“You two are  _ supposed  _ to be resting right now,” Ladybug said as soon as Queen Bee had flown up to meet up with them. “Why is Rena the only one who listens?”

 

“In case you’re forgetting, I wasn’t there for the whole battle. I’m not dead on my feet like you two are,” Queen retorted, cocking her head with her hands on her hips as she stood on the beam next to them. “Besides someone had to check up on you.”

 

Chat raised his hand from where he was sitting next to Ladybug. “Still here.”

 

“Someone competent,” Queen clarified, throwing a teasing smirk his way. Ladybug couldn’t help but wonder who Chat knew and chose to be the next hero; they seemed to be good friends under the masks. 

 

“Harsh, are you gonna let her say that to me, Bugaboo?” Chat pouted, turning puppy dog eyes her way.

 

“Don’t be mean, Bee,” Ladybug responded with a lilting smile. She was glad that her mask at least partially covered the redness on her face from their gestures. It meant a lot to her, especially after how difficult today had been for her and all of them. She looked back down at the city as she murmured, “I do appreciate it though. You two coming to check on me during patrol. However that doesn’t mean you two are staying long”

 

“Aw, you do love me Bugaboo~” Chat crooned, leaning against her side with a wide smile. She smirked as she pushed him off, ringing the bell under his neck affectionately.

 

“It’s no big deal,” Bee muttered, her own mask obscuring her blush but the tips of her ears were tinged pink. “We’ll go back soon, we just wanted to make sure you hadn’t passed out in an alley somewhere.”

 

Ladybug snorted. “I’m not that exhausted, and my patrol’s almost over with anyways,” she responded. “You did good today Bee, especially since it’s your first day. Once we’ve all recovered, we’ll train you for combat but practice’s the best teacher.”

 

Chat piped up. “We had to get thrown into a couple buildings before we got to how amazing we are now,” he added on, glancing over at Ladybug and grinning.

 

“The next patrol we have, one of us can spar with you during downtime,” Ladybug said, smiling up at Queen Bee. Her face turned even more red under her yellow mask; fuck Chloe was too gay for this.

 

Queen shook herself out of it. “So what does patrolling entail?”

 

“Mostly just sweeping the perimeter of the city, scanning for akumas and stopping any crimes going on,” Chat answered and Ladybug chimed in.

 

“Small crimes have been on a decline since we started working though, so it shouldn’t be much of a problem. You won’t need to do any patrols on your own for a while until you have a grasp of how to go about it,” she concluded. “I’m sure you’ll do amazing and I’m happy to work with you!” Her smile was near blinding.

 

“U-um yeah you too. I mean- shit- I’m happy to work with you too, thanks,” Queen Bee got out, her back going rigidly straight as she fumbled with her words. Chat gave her a knowing smirk and stood up, linking arms with Bee.

 

“See ya later. Bugaboo, we’ll go get some rest,” Chat said with a wink, tugging her off the beam and her wings kept her aloft. “You get some rest too.”

 

Ladybug smiled to herself as Chat and Bee travelled across the city, quickly disappearing among the buildings.

  
  


“Is there any chance she’s our soulmate?” Chloe asked.

 

“My kwami told me we’re linked by destiny, that seems like soulmate-material to me.”


	2. Does Queen Bee is Gay?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uhhhh,,,, a little angst, a lotta chat fic

At the end of her patrol, Ladybug swung back to the bakery, deftly sliding through the trapdoor and detransforming as soon as she was safely inside, Tikki flying out and landing with a  _ fwump _ on a pillow.

 

“Sorry, Tikki, I didn’t realize how long I was going to have to be transformed today,” Marinette said meekly, rubbing the back of her neck. 

 

“It’s fine, Marinette. It’s not your fault. I’m just tired,” came the kwami’s soft voice muffled by the pillow. 

 

“I’ll go get you some cookies and check on my parents, alright?” she responded, glancing at her kwami as she descended the stairs.

 

“Okay, but then you need some rest too,” came the weary reply. There was writing on her wrists from her soulmates but she just didn’t have the energy to look or respond back.

 

Crap. She probably worried her parents being gone so long after the attack on the bakery, and she had no idea how they reacted to trying to harm themselves and each other while under the akuma’s influence. Her breaths came short as she entered the bakery, stuffing a couple leftover chocolate chip cookies in her pockets. She pulled out her phone from her back pocket and winced at the call notifications flooding her screen from her parents. Excuses quickly formulated in her head as she approached their bedroom door, the soft light from their lamp pooling out from beneath the door. Her chest tightened as she raised her hand to knock on the door. She always hated this part; she hated lying to them. But it was the only way to protect them from Hawkmoth.

 

When would this be over? When would they finally defeat him? When would the citizens of Paris finally be unafraid to feel angry or sad or jealous without fearing they would unknowingly wreak destruction upon the city because a villain had taken advantage of their emotions?

 

Her fist lowered from the door and her hands went to her face, covering her eyes filling with tears. It was becoming too much, too overwhelming. Two more heroes helped substantially, but that also meant they were being put in danger constantly too. 

 

Why was Hawkmoth doing this? What was his motive for bringing so many people to their knees? 

 

The first tears slipped down her cheeks and she slid to the ground, her hands still clutching at her face. She had to stop crying, she had to; Marinette had no idea if Hawkmoth was able to akumatize people twice in a day and she was the one person who couldn’t risk that.  _ She couldn’t cry.  _

 

Her parents’ door swung open, revealing her parents looking down at her with so much concern and relief in their eyes. 

 

“Marinette, honey, where were you? Are you okay?” her mom asked, kneeling down to join her daughter on the ground, her husband crouching with her.

 

She choked on a sob. “I was with Alya,” she managed to get out, squeezing her eyes shut to stop the tears. It wasn’t a lie. “I’m fine, I’m fine. I just s-saw people trying to hurt themselves before we got to safety. Are you guys okay? You’re not hurt, are you?” 

 

“No, no, sweetie we’re alright. We don’t remember anything but we’re not hurt,” her dad answered, glancing over at Sabine, his eyebrows furrowing with heavy anxiety. “Do you want a hug?” 

 

Marinette just nodded and flung herself forward into her parents’ arms, her eyes remaining tightly shut. Her parents looked at each other over Marinette’s head, worry swimming in their eyes. They had never seen her react this badly to an akuma attack before.

 

If one drop of their blood spilled, Marinette would never be able to forgive herself. 

  
  


A hollowness ate at her stomach, muting the hunger pains that were surely making themselves known after a long day of fighting as she returned to her room, gently putting the cookies next to Tikki.

 

“Marinette, are you okay?” Tikki asked gently as she sat on her shoulder nibbling on a cookie.

 

“Y-yeah, it’s just been a hard day,” she reassured her kwami, patting her head with a fingertip. She let herself fall on top of her bed, still fully clothed and aching everywhere. “We’re going to defeat Hawkmoth. No matter what.” Tikki hummed in response, nuzzling into Marinette’s face and causing a weak smile. 

 

A knock on her trapdoor startled her into jolting up again, flinching when several areas of her body protested at once. “Tikki, hide,” she said, standing up to open it up. Tikki quickly flitted into a drawer with her cookies.

 

A blond head popped down into her room, Chat’s hair falling down out of his face as he hung upside down into her room.

 

“Good evening, purrincess,” he greeted, his tail falling into the room. “May I come in?”

 

Marinette just nodded in response, cocking her head to one of her chairs which he sunk into with a pleased hum.

 

“Are you doing okay?” Chat asked, concern wrinkling his forehead. “I noticed you weren’t here during the akuma attack, did you find somewhere safe?” 

 

She was slightly taken aback by his sincerity. As Marinette, to Chat she was just someone who’d had akumas targeting her and had helped out a few times. Were they friends? “Y-yeah, it just shook me up,” she finally responded, forcing a smile. “I was with a friend when it happened but we both got out alright. I heard the akuma was an intense one, though. Are  _ you  _ okay?”

 

Chat looked just as taken aback, but recovered quicker than she did. “Of course- well, kinda. It was  _ really intense _ . It took a lot out of us, but we won in the end. That’s all that matters,” Chat replied, a sincere smile on his face. “And we had someone to help us too! That new hero, Queen Bee, has a healing ability!”

 

A real smile found a way on her face at his enthusiasm, but faded quickly when she realized. “Too tired for puns, huh? You should probably go get some sleep after today,” Marinette hinted, impulsively reaching forward to ruffle his hair. She froze when she realized what she did, her hand still on his head. Marinette wasn’t Ladybug right now and Marinette wasn’t supposed to be affectionate to one of the heroes of Paris. 

 

Chat didn’t seem to notice or care as he leaned into the touch, grinning at her as she retracted her hand. “Thanks, Mari. I will,” he replied, starting to scale the ladder up the trapdoor. “Send a cat signal if you need help. Or to talk.” The last part was added on as his tail disappeared up the opening. His head whipped back down as he said, “Sleep well, princess.”

 

Marinette stared up at the closed trapdoor, her eyebrows furrowed together.

 

Tikki voiced her thoughts as she zoomed back out of hiding. “Looks like you got a new friend, Marinette,” she teased. “Now it’s time to take your own advice and get to sleep.”

 

She flopped onto her bed, every inch of her body protesting the treatment. She could see words from her soulmates sprawled out on the backs of her hands, but she was just so  _ tired. _

  
  


Marinette woke up at noon to altogether too many notifications flooding her screen, eyes widening when she saw texts and missed calls from her classmates- visibly overshadowed by Alya’s texts. Someone had started a group chat for the class, and it was absolutely  _ flooded _ by worried texts. Everyone had texted something. Even Chloe and Sabrina.

**Alya started the groupchat** **_Whipped for Ladybug Squad_ ** **and added Nino + 13 others**

 

**Alya + 14 others changed their name**

 

**LB’s Bae (Alya):** The bakery was on the news!! Are you doing okay, Marinette??

 

**LB’s Side Bae (Adrien):** Are you and your family unharmed? 

    Also we can totally postpone studying together until tomorrow if need a day.

 

**LB’s Bae’s Bae (Nino):** what happened?!? 

   and Adrien you were going to study without us??

 

**Hacker Voice (Max):** not the point rn

I’m sure Mme Bustier will excuse u from the test since your house was the location of an akuma attack

 

**Lipstick Lesbian (Rose):** I hope you’re alright Marinette!

 

**Goth Gf (Juleka):** Yeah, let us know how you are when you can.

 

 **The Teenage Witch** **(Sabrina):** Seconded! Did you guys hear about the new hero?? 

              I already follow her instagram :D

 

**LB’s Bae (Alya):** She already has an instagram??? This is going on the Ladyblog for sure

 

**Illustr8er (Nathaniel):** ^^^^^ What’s her username?

 

**Ladybae (Chloe):** officialqueenbee. for real tho, marinette you better fucking answer. Everyone else is worried about u

 

**LB’s Bae’s Bae (Nino):** ,,,,,,,,,,

 

**LB’s Bae (Alya):** ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

**LB’s Side Bae (Adrien):** Aw Chloe you’re worried about her too <3

 

**LB’s Bae (Alya):** are you sure that’s Chloe and not an akuma

 

**Lipstick Lesbian (Rose):** Chloe you’ve grown so much in just a year!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

 

**Ladybae has left** **_Whipped for Ladybug Squad_ **

**Faster than Alix (Kim) has added Ladybae to the group chat**

 

**Ladybae (Chloe):** none of u will ever speak a word of this again.

 

**Faster than Alix (Kim):** ;)

 

**LB’s Bae (Alya):** ;)

 

**LB’s Bae’s Bae (Nino):** ;)

 

**Sanic (Alix):** ;)

 

**Illustr8er (Nathaniel):** ;)

 

Marinette was smiling by the time she read through the chat, letting out a soft laugh. She couldn’t believe Queen Bee had gotten a social media account for her superhero persona already though. Good lord, that could cause problems if she wasn’t careful. If it wasn’t harming anyone at the moment, then Marinette guessed she could let it slide.

 

Her fingertips tapped out a response, hovering over the keyboard as she thought up her username.

 

**Whipped for Chloe (Marinette):** Aw Chloe I’m touched <3

     And everyone thank you for your kindness! I’m fine and so are my parents! <3

 

**Ladybae (Chloe):** asflkglkjgs

 

**Goth Gf (Juleka):** keysmashing is gay culture chloe

 

**Lipstick Lesbian (Rose):** ^^^^^

 

**Hacker Voice (Max):** ^^^^^^^^^

 

**LB’s Side bae (Adrien):** I’m glad you’re all alright!

  
  


Marinette put her phone down before it was flooded again with texts to get dressed, moving slowly to avoid aggravating her wounds. Tikki winced sympathetically when Marinette tripped, sending her elbows crashing to the ground and bruising her tailbone. “Can I just stay on the floor all day, Tikki?” Marinette asked, only half kidding. The kwami shook her head with an apologetic smile. She huffed through her nose as she picked up her phone again, having to scroll through a couple heartfelt messages and then dozens of texts talking about the last akuma and the new hero, Alya being the forerunner of the discussion. Marinette quickly texted out a suggestion time for studying with Adrien, his confirming answer quickly swallowed up by the rest of her classmates texting one another.

 

She swiped over to her Instagram account- hers mostly consisting of fashion designs and pictures of her and her friends- and typed in Queen Bee’s username. Her eyes bugged open at the follower count already and the amount of selfies she had already posted to her account; when had she had the time to do that?

 

Well, screw it. Marinette tapped the follow button, and almost instantaneously, the notification that she had been followed back popped up. She wasn’t expecting that- she could see Queen only followed a small handful of people at this point, including Chat’s, Rena’s and Ladybug’s accounts.

 

What she wasn’t expecting even more was a message from Queen Bee in the following few minutes, asking if she was alright and letting her know that she liked Marinette’s designs. Flustered, she replied with a heartfelt thanks and a heart.

  
  


**officialqueenbee** : fuck chat adrien fucking cat help

 

**Cat-astrophe:** what?? What’s going on?? Do u need me to come over???

 

**officialqueenbee:** ok i checked on marinette like a responsible superhero and

      I complimented her designs since i dont get the chance to as chloe bc it wouldnt come off as genuine

      Which is fair considering how i used to treat her

      But she was so nice

      And shes alright

      And she sent me a heart

      Thats new

      But like

      Im gay for ladybug

      And ive only ever liked you and LB

      What the hell do i do

      She can see that i read the message

      Hurry up and respond adrien

 

**Cat-astrophe:** aw im touched that you like me~ <3

U had me genuinely worried tho omg

Isn’t she the sweetest tho

Idk just respond with a heart back ?

Who knows she might just be our soulmate

 

Adrien put down his phone, smirking at the influx of messages from Chloe on her account as Bee. He was so glad Master Fu had agreed with him that the Bee Miraculous belonged with Chloe, giving her a better chance to redeem herself and help out others in contrast to the amount of people she had akumatized before she had started making an effort to better herself. He knew how hard it was to move on from her mom leaving. He was proud of her.

 

He didn’t know if she would catch onto his not-so-subtle hint that Marinette is Ladybug though. 

 

Ever since an akuma had succeeded in taking Ladybug’s Miraculous, her transformation had disappeared halfway. If his suspicions weren’t confirmed by then, they certainly were made concrete when he saw half of Ladybug’s face without her mask.

 

He had to respect her wish for privacy though, so he hadn’t said anything about it. Even if the discovery had made him so happy and wish for nothing but to let Ladybug know who he was too. 

 

He had to wait until she was ready for that. 

 

Adrien checked his arm, snorting when he realized Chloe had tried to contact him in a panic through the writing fading on his arm.

 

Instead, their other soulmate had responded in worry.  _ What’s going on? Are you alright, Yellow?  _

 

_ Fuck nothing’s wrong, but someone I know sent me a heart and idk how to respond adklskdlf _ , came Chloe’s rushed writing on the same arm.

 

_ Did you just… write a keysmash on ur arm?  _ the red writing responded.  _ And just be genuine!  _

 

_ So what if I did gdi alright _ . The last response from Chloe was in frantic yellow on his arm, and then almost an immediate notification on his phone chimed. 

 

**officialqueenbee:** i took ur guys advice and sent a heart back and was genuine 

      Also whats the fucking chance that marinettes our soulmate and would actually be okay with being my soulmate too

 

**Cat-astrophe:** proud of u chlo

We’ll have to see lmao, gtg study with ur crush :)

  
  


Marinette watched the yellow words on her arm slowly fade away with a smile. Her face froze when she processed what was happening. Marinette had responded with a heart to Queen Bee’s message, and had then immediately gotten writing on her arm about, and then afterwards another message sent to her  _ with a heart  _ and another compliment.

 

Was it possible Queen Bee was one of her soulmates?

 

Her mind started considering the possibility before the rest of her could catch up; if Queen Bee was her soulmate, that meant that the other hero had another soulmate as well. And when Chat had been entrusted with the Bee Miraculous, he went to Queen Bee, whoever she was, and it was clear they knew each other well. 

 

If Queen Bee were her soulmate, then there was a huge possibility Chat Noir was too. 

 

“Tikki,” Marinette said slowly, staring at her arm. “Do you know who my soulmates are?”

 

“Yes, but you know I can’t tell you anyways,” Tikki chastized. “Why do you ask?” Tikki couldn’t tell her who her soulmates were- because she couldn’t reveal their identities? Marinette’s mind was going a hundred miles an hour and she just couldn’t keep up with everything. If Chat and Queen were her soulmates, what did that mean? For them and for her?

 

Maybe she was overreacting, her soulmate’s words on her arm could be talking about anybody, and what were the chances both her soulmates were superheroes she already knew and worked with. She didn’t have enough proof either way.

 

“Marinette?” Tikki asked again, concern lidding her eyes.

 

“Nevermind, it’s nothing,” she responded, putting some cheer into her voice for the kwami. “I better go get set up before Adrien gets here.”

 

“Alright, have fun,” Tikki sang as she disappeared into the desk’s drawer.

  
  


“So what part of the unit do you need help with?” Adrien asked, crossing his legs up in his chair and flipping through his notes. 

 

“Uh, well, all of it,” Marinette admitted sheepishly. “I may have zoned out most of the class periods. I just can’t focus on this one class for some reason.”

 

Adrien pondered that for a moment. “Do you think it’s because you didn’t understand the first unit? The rest of the chapter is based off knowing how to do the first unit,” he suggested, propping his chin on his hand as his other moved to flip back to the notes from the very beginning of the chapter.

 

“Oh. That might be it,” Marinette replied, rubbing at the back of her neck. 

 

He went through the first unit, and just as Marinette thought she was starting to get it, the akuma alert trilled in unison from their phones. Almost immediately, yellow writing appeared on Adrien’s arm, a distressed Chloe advising them to get to safety. If only Marinette wasn’t always wearing her pink jacket, he might be able to see if the writing from Chloe matched up on her arm. 

 

“I, uh, just realized I should go look for Alya to make sure she doesn’t run into trouble,” Marinette said. Apparently Hawkmoth didn’t need a break after all. “You should stay here where it’s safe, sorry!” She darted down the stairs, and Adrien barely noticed the red blur flying after her. 

 

“Okay, be careful!” he shouted down the stairs just as the bakery door swung shut after her. The edges of a dissipating red glow followed her departure, looking almost exactly the same as the green glow that appeared when he transformed. The red blur following her must’ve been her kwami. Marinette was definitely Ladybug, and now everything she did just confirmed it more.

 

The only question was if she was his and Chloe’s soulmate.

 

Adrien transformed moments after Marinette had, catapulting himself out through the trapdoor and checking the akuma symbol on his baton. The purple moth icon flashed across town, dead center on the Eiffel Tower. Already, Ladybug was out of sight, likely fast on her way there.

 

As Chat Noir followed her cue, he had no idea how she was doing it so fast. His entire body ached still and nearly every motion resulted in him wincing. This akuma better be easy, for all their sakes.

 

A massive explosion on the horizon sent adrenaline flowing through him as he leaped across rooftop to rooftop, quickly gaining closer to the akuma. Chat’s heart stopped in his chest, nearly shaking as he looked up. An enormous steel figure towered over the buildings, the Eiffel Tower clasped in one hand, and Chloe in the other.


	3. Beauty in the Eye of the Bee-holder

Chloe thrashed in the gigantic hand encasing her entire body, her nails breaking off as she attempted to claw the hand. Even if she had any room to transform, the whole city would see Chloe Bourgeois turn into Queen Bee, and that was the one thing Ladybug had asked of her not to do. 

 

It didn’t stop her from feeling useless.

 

Ladybug’s mask crinkled on her nose as her face furrowed in worry, sending a reassuring smile to Chloe. Did Ladybug know it was obvious when she tried to cover her anxiety with confidence? The city’s fearless hero swung around the akuma, yelling out, “Don’t worry, we’ll get you to safety, Chloe!” The city’s fearless hero knew her name- granted she had used to demand autographs from Ladybug whenever possible.

 

Chloe could only watch as Chat and Rena grouped up with Ladybug as they surveyed the area for any lingering civilians.

 

“I’m Aftershock,” the sudden declaration boomed out from the akuma, the following vibrations sending the three Miraculous users stumbling over each other and shattering windows in its wake, following in the clinking of glass against the street.

 

Chloe couldn’t understand the orders Ladybug was barking out quickly, sending the other two dispersing. She needed to  _ help.  _ She wasn’t going to be able to do that trapped in an akuma’s hand, but there wasn’t any clear way to do that.  _ Think. _

 

Copies of Rena Rouge were occupied with herding off remaining civilians and warding off news station vans, unable to keep away the helicopter emblazoned with the local news station’s logo flying overhead. Whoever was piloting that helicopter was either new or stupidly brave, endangering their life for a few minutes of footage. One of them needed to get up there and convince them to get out of the danger zone immediately. 

 

Ladybug seemed to have the same idea as Chloe as she swung over and landed smoothly within the helicopter. 

 

“Here to kill Chloe if don’t get Miraculous,” boomed the voice from the akuma again, forcing Chat to his knees. A flash of fear froze Chloe’s spine, going rigid from fear. No one had wanted to kill her for a long time.  _ What did she do? _

 

She couldn’t remember genuinely insulting someone for a… long time. What did she  _ do? _

 

Chloe couldn’t see Chat’s face clearly from where he was at, but she could tell he had stiffened too, his tail sticking straight up. She needed to figure out what the akuma’s issue was, hopefully she would be able to point out the object Hawkmoth had used to akumatize Aftershock. 

 

It was impossible to recognize whoever the akuma was from the metal completely plating over his face and body, garbling his voice beyond recognition.  _ Think, Chloe. _

 

She scanned up, desperately looking for anything besides just metal. Chloe swallowed the bile rising in her throat and mustered up her courage.

 

“Hey, Aftershock!” she yelled from his hand, capturing his attention, immediately wincing from the pressure increasing on her body when his eyes were on her. More bruises couldn’t hurt, right? “Why do you want to hurt me?”

 

The resulting answer just about shattered her eardrums, as the akuma’s face leaned down until its massive face was feet away from hers. “Chloe know what she did!” 

 

She really didn’t. Silently hoping she wouldn’t die today, she retorted with the edge of her old bitterness, hoping it would it would anger an answer out of him. “Why would I remember you? You’re probably no one compared to me.” Regret immediately filled her, but it got the job done.

 

“ _ Chloe pushed me down stairs year ago! You broke my leg and arm! _ ” the giant roared in answer, the following vibrations clacking her teeth together painfully. The memory came rushing back, her regret and guilt increasing tenfold. Right. Chloe had been in a horrible mood that day, the day being the anniversary of her mom leaving. And she had  _ hurt _ some poor man.

 

Even through the haze of guilt, a thought pierced her mind. A year ago? Was the man somehow still upset? But it had been a whole year, the anger should’ve at least dulled. This man had to be able to hold a serious grudge if he’d been holding onto this anger for a  _ year. _

 

Unless Hawkmoth had done something different, changed how he utilized his Miraculous.

 

Could he influence people’s past emotions too?

 

If that were true, they were all fucked. Hawkmoth would be turning out more and more akumas every day, running them ragged. Holy fuck, she hoped that her theory was wildly wrong. 

 

_ Concentrate, Chloe.  _ Okay, okay, maybe the akuma was inhabiting something on his leg? Fuck, but what she could see, there wasn’t anything on his leg. Chloe made herself carefully examine the plating on his leg, desperately looking for any sign of  _ something _ .

 

There! A tiny bandaid on his knee, almost entirely obscured by the layered metal plating.

 

“Ladybug! On his left leg- the bandaid!” Chloe yelled as loud as she could, hoping her voice carried to the hero circling the akuma with the others trying to find weak spots. Ladybug’s head jerked down as her eyes rapidly scanned his left leg, her gaze brightening as she locked onto the bandaid.

 

Ladybug quickly motioned commands to the others and they took their places around Aftershock, already executing a swing around Aftershock and looping the string of her yo-yo around his torso. Chat Noir quickly followed up by thrusting his staff with blunt force in the dead center of Aftershock’s chest, and then darting back down the ground and using Cataclysm to dissolve the cement beneath Aftershock’s feet. 

 

Rena Rouge blew into her flute and an illusion of a towering giant blazing with hellfire appeared before the akuma, scaring him into taking a couple steps backward. 

 

With a surprised yell that sent those on the ground scattering again, Aftershock tripped backwards, his hand releasing Chloe as he fell. Before she even had a chance to be scared of her imminent fall to the ground far below, a red and black-spotted blur snatched her up midair, cradling Chloe to her chest. 

 

Chloe looked up at her savior, blue hair escaping her pigtails streaming across her face in the highspeed wind. Chloe’s head was pillowed on Ladybug’s chest, the press of a muscled arm around her back keeping Chloe against her as Ladybug swung with her yo-yo with one arm. Chloe barely noticed that below them, Rena Rouge was crushing the bandaid in her hand with a disgusted grimace, the black akuma flitting out from between her fingers. Ladybug landed on the closest rooftop, arm still around Chloe as she flicked out her yo-yo to purify and release the now white butterfly. 

 

Ladybug finally looked up at Chloe, releasing her with a barely discernible blush as Chloe unlatched herself. She hadn’t noticed before- she was taller than Ladybug now just by a few inches.

 

Her eyebrows furrowed together as she looked at Chloe, quickly realizing Chloe was favoring her left side. “Are you injured?” Ladybug asked as she was already gingerly pulling up the hem of Chloe’s shirt to reveal the side of her abdomen, showing new bruises layered over old. Chloe let out a choked breath, blushing furiously as she tugged her shirt back down.

 

“It’s n-no big deal, I’ve had worse,” Chloe forced out.

 

“What were these other bruises from, Chloe?” she asked, her blue eyes darkened with worry as she put a hand on Chloe’s shoulder.

 

There way no way Chloe could say she got the past bruises from the last akuma fight, as Queen Bee. “It’s nothing to worry about, Ladybug,” she reassured, putting a genuine smile on for her benefit.

 

“Just… bee careful,” Ladybug finally said, putting emphasis on the second word.

 

Well shit.

 

How did Ladybug figure it out  _ already _ ? Chloe’s brain was buzzing too fast for her to keep up with.  _ What does this mean? _

  
  


**Whipped for Chloe (Marinette): @Ladybae** Chloe are you alright?? Why did that akuma even target you??? 

 

**LB’s Side Bae (Adrien):** ^^^^^^^ Yeah are you okay?

 

**LB’s Bae (Alya):** ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ girl respond

 

**LB’s Bae’s Bae (Nino):** what happened??

 

**Ladybae (Chloe):** jeez relax guys im alright

                            the akuma was a guy I had done smthg to a year ago

                            i went and talked to him after it was all over and apologized, but he said he was over it ?

 

**Whipped for Chloe (Marinette):** I’m glad ur okay!! Make sure to relax! <3

                                                     uh thats weird, i dont think an akuma has ever been made that late after what made him upset

 

**Ladybae (Chloe):** asldksdlf

 

**Hacker Voice (Max):** that is new

 

**Lipstick Lesbian (Rose):** g a y  c u l t u r e

 

**Goth Gf (Juleka):** ^^^^^^^^^

 

**Ladybae (Chloe):** fucking hell

 

**Hacker voice (Max):** no swearing in this christian server

  
  


This chat was going nowhere, Jesus Christ.

 

And Chloe didn’t know what to do with the unnameable feeling swelling in her chest as she thought of Marinette worrying over her. And then there was Ladybug knowing that she, Chloe Bourgeois, was Queen Bee. Chloe Bourgeois, the past bringer of akumas and absolute asshole. Great. And she hadn’t been exactly the best to Ladybug in the past.

 

She shook herself out of her quickly descending thoughts. Only the present and the future mattered now. And she was determined to live as her best self now. Coming out on a huge social media platform where hundreds of thousands of people followed her seemed a valid way of doing that.

  
  


_ “Queen Bee, the new superhero of Paris, has made a post on Instagram coming out as bisexual,”  _ the reporter read off the next morning, a picture of Queen Bee’s post filling the screen. Chloe had taken a picture of herself in costume on the roof, winking at the camera. The caption read  _ this bee is bi (bee emoji) _

 

By morning, there were already millions of comments, most falling into the supportive category. Chloe had seen the comment  _ more like QUEER bee  _ more times than she could count already this morning. And there at the top of the comments was Chat Noir’s account saying the same thing. Geez, she wondered who started it.

 

The next most popular comment was Alya Cesaire asking for an exclusive interview for the Ladyblog. Might as well make up for some past shit today.

  
  


Adrien knew Marinette was Ladybug, and with every word written in red on his skin, he was getting more and more positive that his and Chloe’s soulmate and Marinette were one and the same. They had a similar way of talking, the same kind of personality, the same interests so far. The red words on his left arm were holding a conversation with Chloe about fashion and what she was working on designing right now.

 

Yellow words chimed in, Chloe saying she had to go get ready for an interview and wishing their other soulmate good luck with their designs.

 

_ Green, are you there?  _ the red words scrawled again after a minute, the past conversation fading away into nothing. 

 

Adrien hesitated, staring at his arm with his uncapped pen hovering over his skin. He finally just doodled a cartoon cat waving underneath the red words, following it up quickly by writing  _ hewwo _ . An image of Ladybug rolling her eyes at him popped up in his head.

 

_ Hello, I was just gonna let you know I probably won’t be available for a bit either, so have a nice day! _ came the next response in red, tailed by a much more realistic doodle of a cat. 

 

Adrien flopped backwards onto his bed, careful to avoid Plagg snacking on a piece of cheese on his pillow.  _ You too! _ he replied, sighing through his nose. Everyone but him was busy today.

 

As if reading his thoughts- or the words on his arm- Plagg chimed in, “Why don’t you go hang out with Nino or something?”

 

“Good idea, Plagg, thanks!” Adrien replied, flinging himself back out of bed.

 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever kid. Go have fun,” the kwami muttered back, zooming into Adrien’s pocket.

  
  


Marinette hadn’t seen Luka in a while, so here they were in the park with dripping ice cream cones and a wad of napkins between them. His pair of earbuds separated between them, rock music pumping into one ear.

 

“I wrote this one, whatcha think Mama Mari?” Luka asked, grinning at her and rushing to keep ice cream from dripping on his fingers. 

 

“You wrote this? It’s amazing, Luka!” Marinette responded as she readjusted her earbud. “Where do you get your inspiration?” 

 

“Mostly from what’s going on around me; how life flows within everyone. Do you have any of your designs you could show me? 

 

Marinette nodded and eagerly dug into her purse, bringing out a small battered sketchbook she brought everywhere she went in case inspiration struck. She flipped through the pages with a thumb until she stopped on a sketchy design she was particularly proud of, featuring a fabric she needed practice with. She beamed as his eyes lit up, Luka pointing out his favorite aspects of the design and highlighting areas that needed tweaking. Talking to him was always so refreshing for her; she loved swapping back and forth creativity and bouncing back ideas off each other. While she didn’t know much about music production, it was fun to listen to whatever Luka came up with with his band.

 

“Crap,” Marinette grumbled as her forgotten ice cream trickled down her hand, setting aside her sketchbook with her other hand and being careful not to yank out the earbud as she wiped off her hand.

 

Luka laughed, even that sounding musical, as he put his earbuds aside and held her wrist as he used his napkin to tenderly wipe away the mess off her hand. 

 

Before she even had a chance to get flustered, a familiar black-clad superhero- minus the usual smirk- was standing in front of them, twirling his leather tail as he leaned too casually on his staff. 

 

“Hey, princess. I just happened to be in the area and thought I’d drop by for a meownute,” Chat Noir drawled, catching himself as his staff slipped from his hand.

 

Marinette snickered, covering her mouth with her hand as she responded. “Hey, Chat. This is Luka!” she said, gesturing to the boy sitting next to her. Her smile disappeared in a heartbeat. “Is there something wrong?” 

 

She usually never saw Chat when there wasn’t an akuma or when he was checking up on her after an akuma attack at her house. This was new.

 

“Nope, nothing wrong, absolutely A-ok!” Chat said vigorously, forcing his attention to Luka. “Oh, nice to meet you, Luka. Apurrlogies if I interrupted your… date.”

 

“Oh, it’s not-” Marinette started to say.

 

“It’s totally fine, Cat,” Luka cut in with a cool smile. Chat bristled almost imperceptibly, his shoulders tightening. Luka turned to Marinette. “You never mentioned you know Chat Noir, Mari. That’s pretty cool.”

 

“O-oh, uh yeah, we’ve been friends since I helped him out with the attack from Illustrator. Chat’s great at what he does,” Marinette answer, rolling her eyes when she saw how Chat’s chest puffed up. “Even the great need help.”

 

Chat grinned at her teasing tone, angling forward to ruffle Marinette’s hair and shooting a cursory glare at Luka, his slitted eyes narrowing threateningly. 

 

Luka stood up suddenly, his voice icier than Marinette had heard before. “Sit down, kitten.”

 

Unease filtered through her at his tone. “Are you guys okay?” she asked uncertainly, looking up at the two staring down each other. “Did I say something…?”

 

Before either of them could answer, Queen Bee landed next to Chat Noir, looking frazzled as she looped her arm around his shoulders.

 

“Hey, Mari, these guys bothering you?” Bee asked with a smirk, unfazed by the resulting elbow in her gut from Chat.

 

“What is going on.” Marinette said flatly. “Why are you two here?” One of them showing up was a coincidence, but two here seemed very unlikely, especially when there was no akuma in sight. They glanced at each other and back at her too quickly too seem like an innocent gesture. “Well, spit it out.”

 

Chat mimed looking at his wrist with wide eyes. “Well, would you look at the time! We should purrably go and leave you two to your  _ date _ !” he replied, nimbly dodging the question and pointedly looking at Bee. 

 

Bee’s eyes narrowed in response and grabbed Chat’s arm. “I suppose we should get going then, huh? Bye Mari. Luke,” she hissed out and flitted away as fast she had arrived.

 

“It’s Luka!” he called after her, settling back down on the bench with a crooked smile at Marinette. “See ya, kitten.”

  
  



	4. I Cat Not Believe You

“What was that?” Queen Bee demanded as she and Chat vaulted over rooftops. “That wasn’t exactly subtle, Chat.” 

“How was your interview?” Chat tried, smoothly deflecting a glare thrown in his direction.

“Amazing, but stop trying to change the subject. Answer me. Now,” Queen hissed, flyaway hairs whipping out of her ponytail as they continued jumping from rooftop to rooftop, finally stopping on a secluded roof.

Chat muttered a few indecipherable words as he rubbed at the back of his neck, shifting from foot to foot and doing anything but look at Queen Bee.

“I cannot believe you, Chat,” she said when she got impatient.

“I cat not believe you?” he weakly offered in return.

Queen was completely unamused when she said, “Spill. It.”

He huffed and plopped down onto the roof, his legs spilling out from under him gracelessly. “I thought it was obvious; I’m jealous,” he mumbled.

“Well, obviously,” Queen said, exasperated, throwing her hands in the air with a huff.

Chat’s shoulders slumped as he continued louder. “Mari’s been good friends with Luka for a while, and he made it clear they were there on a date. I just- wait. Why were you there too?” His eyes narrowed suspiciously at Queen Bee, a smirk slowly forming. “You were jealous too!”

“Well, duh, yeah, but-” she sputtered, her face going tomato red as she struggled to find an explanation. “Um, well-”

“Wait so why are you mad at me?” Chat exclaimed, cutting off her stuttering. 

“Because you made it so obvious you’re completely smitten,” Queen exploded, her face still completely red.

Chat blew it off with a snort. “Mari’s super oblivious, I doubt she has any idea.”

 

“What just happened?” Marinette asked, bewildered, looking to Luka.

He just offered a shrug. “No idea, but see you next week?” 

“Yup! It was nice seeing you, regardless of whatever that was,” she said with a lopsided smile.

Luka rolled his eyes and planted a kiss on Marinette’s forehead. “See ya, Mari.” 

She went red as she watched him walk away, and as soon as he was out of ears-reach, she fished out her phone and speed-dialed Alya.

“Alya Alya a bunch of stuff just happened and I’m very confused please help me,” Marinette said in a rush, sitting back down on the bench and pulling up her knees to her chin.

“Whoa slow down, girl. Tell me what happened and I’ll try to help,” Alya’s voice said, amused, from the other side of the phone. “But afterwards you have to let me tell you about my interview with Queen Bee.”

“Oh my gosh! Congrats! Okay, right,” Marinette started, rushing to tell Alya everything that had happened, taking a breath after she was done. “What does all that mean?”

Alya let out a breath on the other end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> k so like everything I've written doesn't apply now with the new season lmao so I figured I'd publish the few sentences I wrote before I realized the canon doesn't apply to it in anyway, sorry ya'll


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